A fic requested and thus dedicated by Craze Izumi. And according to YenGirl (who also graciously helped me beta this thank youuu) I'm not sure if anyone else on has done a KainXZero, but personally i like any pairing with Zero bottom 8X Zero centric hahahahha. anywho. just a note this story happened a week after Zero threw Kain off his back. alright then. go on! READ AND REVIEW. requests are welcome, as usual. I just need: pairings, possible plot, any special happening you'd like

Fighting fire with fire

The aristocrat vampire and the ex-human had been staring at each other for the past five minutes, one of them glaring. Kain could recognize that deathly gaze from anywhere – this particular prefect before him always had a unique way of doing it. Even when his face depicted nothing there was still a solemn ire hidden beneath that mask. It was a trait similar to his. Kain's face hardly bore any expression. Perhaps an occasional smirk or two, but other than that it was a dry face of disinterest. After all, he was not even interested in the first place. Especially in this.

"And? Why have you called me out at this time of night?" Kain asked, yawning. If it were not for the unusualness of the hunter to so specially knock on the Moon Dormitory door, he would have ignored the consistent pounding on the door.

It was almost bedtime for him. He was thankful the sunrise this morning was later than usual. Not that the sun would do him much harm. Instead, he found a liking to it, seeing as the sun's possible doings are pretty much parallel to his. It caused heat, and the intensity could bring forth fire… his ability - as hot as the sun itself.

Zero leaned back against the wall, contemplating something. His arms remained crossed over his chest, somehow hinting that he was not here out of his own will. Kain wondered why Zero would all so specially (and suddenly) approach the Night Dormitory just to drag the flame wielder out. Furthermore, he was already in his night… er… daywear. The hunter then gave an annoyed click of his tongue.

"I just came to apologize. Yuuki said I should, so I did it. You can go back now," Zero practically babbled the words out, very unlike his usual calm tone. He started to walk away.

For half a second there, Kain was wondering why he had received an apology. After all, what personal injury had the moody prefect ever done him? Then, the memory of him getting thrown over the hunter's back onto the floor was recalled. Mentally, Kain found it amusing why Zero could so easily be manipulated. It was not only because of the Cross girl, one thing for sure as he had observed. The boy before him was secretly obedient as a trait. Not outwardly obedient as to follow everything, yet he somehow wove his way around to make it look less obvious.

"Hold on. An apology like that isn't good enough," Kain said out loud, eyeing the back of Zero's head.

Upon hearing the words, Zero paused in his tracks and side-glanced back with a frown. "What?"

"Because of your little stunt, my lower backbone was dislocated."

"So? Do I have to pay your medical bill or what?" Zero asked, clearly annoyed as he turned to fully face the higher ranked vampire.

"That incident happened a week ago. By now you ought to know that we do not take that long to heal from such a minor injury," Kain almost snorted. The kid was a vampire hunter. He should be clear of the inhumane healing capability of a vampire body. Kain simply suspected that Zero was just being sarcastic.

Zero rolled his eyes. Vampires were always so full of themselves. Just because they were almost immortal, they thought they could flaunt their strengths. It was human nature to tend to boast one's abilities or attributes… but to Zero, a vampire seemed to do it as a taunt - as if describing all these 'gifts' would make humans desire becoming vampires themselves. It made him sick in the stomach to even think of anyone drinking blood. And worse of all, he – Zero - was one of them. One of those selfish bloodsuckers. Only he would never boast or flaunt that fact…

"So what the hell do you want me to do?"

Kain gave a smirk. Although he hardly did anything to express his emotions, he found Zero highly amusing. Now he understood why Kaname had not killed this boy. Once again, it was not because of the Cross girl, but because he was… unique. In an indescribable way. Kain started moving towards Zero, about to clear the ten foot gap between them using vampire speed.

Immediately, Zero's defense system reacted and he reached under his jacket. He fully expected Kain to return the favor, possibly via an injury or two. An eye for an eye. But the thing was, even as a member of the renowned hunter family, Zero knew his skills were far from being on par with an aristocrat's. Besides, he was trained to deal with Level Es, not Bs, which made the situation none the better. If Kain decided to pick a fight with him, naturally Zero would not be defeated that easily… but neither would he so easily win.

Zero's instincts were screaming for him to flee from the approaching danger. His five senses sharpened and told him that Kain was too formidable an opponent for him to triumph over. Yet, his body was acting otherwise. His fingers wrapped swiftly around his gun, his thumb instantly removing the safety catch.

In the next second, Kain was already standing before Zero, one hand closing over the hunter's arm. The taller vampire had already heard the click of the gun as if it had happened ages ago. Zero may have been swift, but Kain was fast. He gripped Zero's right upper arm, and although it may not have seemed like much, it was strong enough to cause the hunter to think twice about firing his gun.

"There is no need to use Bloody Rose," Kain murmured softly, his gaze locked with shocked, lilac eyes.

Zero thought him insane. Did Kain really think that Zero would allow himself to get hurt when he could actually prevent it? When hell freezes over, he might consider it.

"And let you immobilize me for the next few months? I think not", Zero growled dangerously.

Catching Kain off guard, Zero let go of his gun that he'd already drawn from its holster and caught it with his free left hand. Although that hand's accuracy was nowhere near as perfect as his right was, Kain's proximity would guarantee a sure shot. Provided that the vampire was off-guard…

For that action to be executed perfectly without warning, Kain was rather impressed. But speed was still a factor. While in the midst of raising the gun, Zero's left wrist had already been caught by Kain's other hand and the noble's thumb intentionally pressed hard onto a certain point that made excruciating pain shoot through the hunter's hand, causing the gun to fall.

Only the chain connected to the holster prevented the gun from clattering onto the ground. Zero stared in shock, stupidly wondering how the tables had suddenly turned on him. Wait - in the first place, it had all been tuned to Kain's benefit. His vampire abilities and such. The only advantage Zero had was the fact that Kain was late for bed and hence, sleepy. Zero had blown his chance when he failed to shoot Kain before the vampire noticed his gun-switching.

"I told you. Bloody Rose doesn't have to be part of this," Kain partially sighed, partially grinned.

"Let me go," Zero hissed, trying to break free from the twin vice grips. He felt the same, painful treatment to his same wrist and grimaced.

"When I receive a satisfying form of an apology, I will let go."

"What makes you think I'll let you screw up my life?"

"Come on. What I want wouldn't be that bad," Kain raised an eyebrow. Did the boy get his meaning the wrong way? Because the situation looked a hell lot like it. "Don't tell me you thought that I was going to… hurt you?"

Zero stopped struggling at once and stared at Kain with an utmost look of surprise. Was that not what the blasted vampire wanted…?

"Look, I don't indulge in hurting others, if that's what you want to know." Kain kept his voice even and his tone reasonable.

"In that case, you're not really living up to your words…" Zero replied in a whisper.

At first, Kain was dumbfounded as to what Zero was referring to. Then he realized that Zero's left hand was now pale due to the lack of blood circulation. Kain immediately let go of Zero's hand, apologizing.

Silently, the ex-human rubbed the partially sore areas where Kain had grabbed. Thoughts were clouding his head again. If Kain did not want to do the same thing to him…

"So, if it's not a sprained back you want to give me, what then?"

Kain raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Zero would have thought that he wanted to 'sprain his back'. Then, it abruptly clicked in his head that Zero was expecting him to return the favor. An eye for an eye, as it were. The aristocrat rubbed his chin, partially hiding the chuckle he was making that Zero caught, nevertheless.

"What are you laughing about?" Zero growled.

"I'm not laughing."

"You were!" Kain cast a sharp glance at Zero, catching the other's lilac eyes immediately and startling him. Zero caught a hint of seriousness in that gaze – Kain was not chuckling anymore.

"It's morning, and sadly it's the time where my head doesn't work properly."

"What? What are you talking ab-?! " Zero got cut off when Kain grabbed his left wrist again. Using more force than strictly required, the aristocrat pulled Zero towards him as he took a step forward. Without much thought, he crushed their lips together. It was a lucky thing that Zero's shock had left his lips slightly open, and Kain made full use of that.

A soft, muffled squeak of surprise escaped from Zero's mouth into his. The hunter's eyes widened at the close and very clear sight of Kain's dangling earring, before he tried to twist his wrist out of the other's hand. Zero was half a second close to biting Kain, when something warm and soft touched the tip of his tongue. Startled by the sudden invasion, he instinctively bit down on it.

Kain mentally grimaced at the pain. Zero had not been courteous at all. Well, neither should he then. Roughly, the aristocrat's other hand reached around Zero's back and wrapped around his waist, pulling and pressing their warm bodies even closer together. His mouth never left Zero's despite the latter's excruciating bite wound and struggles. Kain let his vampire blood fill the mouth of the hunter's, hopefully the liquid, so tempting to a vampire, would simply disgust the human.

Because that was what Kain thought Zero was. ..

But the hunter suddenly ceased his frantic movements and that surprised Kain. What caused him to be even more bewildered was Zero actually returning the kiss, their tongues now pressing against each other's. Kain pulled back in surprise and the blood in his mouth flowed down both corners of his mouth. At the same time, he grabbed Zero's shoulders, pushing the hunter away at arm's length and found himself staring into familiar, blood red eyes.

Kain softly gasped.

Zero was panting slightly, his jaw dropped. His canines had elongated to abnormal sized fangs and his crimson eyes were affixed on Kain with the unmistakable bloodlust of vampires.

"You…" Kain started, mumbling. "You're a vampire…"

The statement hit Zero like a lightning strike. The crimson eyes widened with realization and Zero dropped his face, burying it into his hands.

"No, I'm not… oh, shit!"

Kain recovered swiftly. He knew that the Kiryuu family was attacked by the pureblood Shizuka, leaving only Zero alive. He thought it was because the kid was lucky, but the sight of Zero as a vampire before him now… Yes, the chances that it was Shizuka who had turned him was very high.

"Kiryuu, it's nothing bad."

"Shut up!" Zero snapped, lifting his head. "Don't even try to say anything good about this, because there isn't any!" He pushed Kain away with his left hand while his right grabbed his dangling gun.

Kain had not really shifted from the current position he was standing in. Instead, he stood his ground, even when Bloody Rose was pressed hard against his temple. His mind had anticipated the danger even before Zero had reached for his gun. It was telling him to kill the threat in front of him without mercy because Zero was a possible Level E. Because Zero was going to kill him…

"That's enough," Kain simply said, a hand reaching over to Zero. He felt the gun pressed deeper into his flesh, but he did not stop his advance. Kain could feel the slight trembling coming from Zero through the gun, even though he could not see it. From that alone, he knew that Zero was actually afraid, despite the hard glare being directed at him. "Don't even point it when you don't mean to shoot."

"I've fired it at Aido-sempai before. What makes you think I'd not do that to you?"

"That was an accident. You pulled the trigger by mistake, didn't you?" When Kain saw Zero stiffen, his doubts were confirmed. "The other may not have noticed it, but I did." The aristocrat's hand gently closed over Zero's arm.

"… So what if it was? Kaname suddenly appeared and he startled me," Zero huffed, pulling back from the other vampire. He took a few steps back, dropping Bloody Rose to his side. "It's not that I intend to kill vampires… but sometimes it's just inevitable."

"Of course…" Kain replied smoothly.

"Whatever. Go back to the Moon Dormitory," Zero scoffed and turned around, keeping his gun back in its holster. He sensed Kain shifting, and was about to pull his gun out again when Kain's arms crossed over his chest from the back, effectively immobilizing him.

"What the hell are you doing? Let go!" Zero had a thought to trip Kain. All he had to do was hook his foot behind Kain's…

Zero suddenly froze when he felt something warm and soft press against the back of his neck, on the left of his vetebrae. He was convinced now that Kain was going to do something even worse than kissing, perhaps even biting. Thus, he carried through the action he had planned in his mind.

It succeeded, and Kain landed on the floor on his back, completely stunned and staring up at the golden sky. By the time he had sat up, Zero was gone. Smirking, the aristocrat touched corner of his lip with a finger then looked at the smear of blood on his fingertip.

"Well, I hope you'll come find me for a second apology… Zero."

Well, hope you like that. As i've said before, review!! I'd really appreciate it. If you want more of this pairing too.. well, just ask? Peace out XD